Page 99 of Married to Lies

I scoured every website to see what had been said. If anyone had pieced together who exactly Rei Li was.

So far, all they had to say was that inside sources reported that we’d had a “whirlwind romance” and that it was “love at first sight” for Quentin. That part made my stomach flutter in a much more pleasant way.

The articles mentioned that I was on the janitorial staff and that I didn’t have a public social media presence.

A black town car pulled into my driveway, and I walked out to see George holding the car door for me, a paper mug in one hand.

“Dirty chai for the newlywed,” he said with a smile.

My fragile heart nearly burst into tears. I hugged him and said, “Thank you.”

After he got over the surprise, he relaxed and patted my back. “Of course. Is everything okay?”

I sniffed, backing away to take my drink. “It’s been a lot, you know?”

He studied me with concerned gray eyes. “Let’s talk about it on the drive.”

In the back seat, I braced myself to tell him the truth. George was one of the people in my life I could trust—he’d proven that time and time again. I told him about owning the business, which he expected, but when I got to the part about Conrad blackmailing me, he gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white.

“We need to report him to the police!” George exclaimed.

I shook my head. “I’m handling it.”

His expression in the rearview mirror seemed unsure. “You can’t give him what he wants, Rei.”

I twisted my lips to the side. “I won’t betray Quentin,” I said. It had been hard to place the bug when I only knew him as an aloof company exec. Planting evidence or spying on him would be impossible now that my heart was involved.

“I hate this for you,” George said.

“Me too,” I agreed, “but it means a lot to have you as a friend. You’re so much more than a driver to me, George. I hope you know that.”

“I wasn’t sure until you walked down the aisle with me.” He winked.

I laughed. God, it felt good to laugh, even if I knew we were getting closer to Conrad by the second.

We pulled into the parking lot, and he wished me luck, promising to wait outside for backup. Even though I knew he would be waiting for me either way, it was nice to have the reminder.

Squaring my shoulders, I got out of the car, preparing to walk into a bloody battle. I reminded myself that I’d been knocked down before, rebuilt my life from ashes. Conrad couldn’t defeat me. Not permanently, at least.

I walked into the Radiant Cleaning office, my head held high. Courtneigh looked up at me from the front desk, a grin on her perky face. She didn’t know that I was aware of her relationship with Conrad, but it wasn’t worth confronting her. Conrad was the one to blame here.

“Rei, it’s so great to see you again!” she happily chirped. “Let me tell Mr. Hale you’ve arrived.” Her strawberry-painted nails clacked against the plastic phone receiver she brought to her ear. “Mr. Hale, your nine a.m. has arrived... You’re welcome! I’ll bring her back.”

We walked in silence to the end of the hall where she knocked on Conrad’s door, making her charm bracelet rattle. Within seconds, Conrad greeted us with a magnanimous smile. Acting chops were working hard. “Courtneigh, thank you so much.” He gave her a wink. I suppressed a groan. Did he have to be so obvious?

“Of course, Mr. Hale,” she said sweetly. “Need anything else from me while I’m here?”

“Not at the moment,” he replied, walking back to his desk.

“Let me know if that changes.” She curtseyed. I nearly barfed.

As soon as the door closed, the smile fell from Conrad’s lips, revealing a threatening scowl. “Sit. And keep your feet off my fucking desk.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I think you’ve forgotten who’s the boss around here.”

“You marry a billionaire and all of a sudden, you’re feeling high and mighty? I wonder what your husband will think when everyone finds out he married a con artist who ruined a man’s livelihood and killed her friend. You know your mentor’s wife left him last year? She married one of his wealthier friends. The one who didn’t go bankrupt in a lawsuit you caused.”

I flinched before I could mask how deeply his words cut.